Bowling ball propelling mechanism

ABSTRACT

A bowling ball propelling device provided with an arcuate frame having a handle attached thereto. Pivotally related to the frame is a ball receiving carriage which is spring-biased relative to the frame and may be set into a cocked, spring-loaded position and upon release thereof the carriage will move and simultaneously hurl a ball contained therein.

United States Patent 1191 [111 3, Privitera Nov. 11, 1975 BOWLING BALL PROPELLING.v 3,206,202 9/1965 Evans 124/5 x MECHAMSM 3,365,197 1/1968 Root 273/64 X 76 lvento: Fra P"t 79P' dl 1 n r z g g s ggj R1 6 552 e Pril mr Examiner-Richard J. Apley Asszstanz E.\'ammerW1ll1am R. Browne [22] Filed: Dec. 5, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 529,711 [57] ABSTRACT A bowling ball propelling device provided with an ar- }J.S.CCII 124/16; 273/64, 124/5 Cuate frame having a handle attached thereto. Pivot [58] F4113 7/00 n related to the frame is a n receiving carriage 1 d 0 Search 5 which is spring-biased relative to the frame and may 124/7 273/54 129 be set into a cocked, spring-loaded position and upon release thereof the carriage will move and simulta- [56] References cued neously hurl a ball contained therein.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,033,567 5/1962 Raab 124/5 x 4 5 D'awmg F'gures U.S. Patent Nov. 11,1975 SheetlofZ 3,918,426

U.S. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,918,426

30 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIA BOWLING BALL PROPELLING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, bowling balls are generally hand thrown in a bowling lane and into a given pin pattern with the intention of knocking over the maximum number of pins on each throw. A hand thrown ball'primarily has linear forward speed and oftentimes some rotation can be imparted thereto depending upon the skill of the bowler. Because of the nature of the game requiring- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hand-held ball hurling device is provided comprising essentially an arcuate frame member with a handle affixed thereto. The arrangement is such that, to the frame member, there is pivotally related a ballreceiving carriage and this ball-receiving carriage is suitably spring-biased so that it may be rocked into a latched spring-loaded position. In the latched position the device may be easily held by a partially disabled person who still has the ability to pivot his arm in a sweeping motion and by pivoting the arm of the user, who is holding the device, and then releasing the trigger at the end of the pivoting stroke, the ball will be propelled out of the carriage and on to the alley with sufficient forward motion so that the ball will roll down the alley toward the preset group of bowling pins. It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a ball hurling device particularly for those partially infirm which will permit one to hurl a bowling ball down an alley with an additional force beyond that which would be done in the persons normal physical capability and further it is an object of the invention to provide a ball hurling device with an easy hand grip which will permit an infirm person to bowl.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the ball hurling device of my invention showing a ball held in the carriage and in latched position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the carriage in the release position with a ball rolling thereout;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view of the device;

FIG. 4 is a top view thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a partial detail view illustrating the rearward stop device for the carriage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, the ball hurling device which is shown in elevation in FIGS. 1 and 3 includes an arcuate frame member to which is secured a bale 12 that encloses a finger grip handle portion designated 14. One end of the bale 12 is secured to the frame as by fastening devices 16 and the forward end of the bale is secured to upright standards l8, 18'. Be-

tween the upright standards l8, 18 is a pivot member 20 and mounted on this pivot is a trigger plate 22 having a finger hole 23 therein. The trigger plate 22 has a dependingdog portion 24 and is spring urged into the 5 illustrated downward position by a simple leaf spring 26 that is held by a pair of pins 27, 27'.

The arcuate frame member 10 has a curved carriage support bracket 30 affixed thereto by fasteners such as 31 and 16 or alternately. the frame 10 and bracket 30 may be integral. A ball-receiving carriage generally designated 34 is pivoted to bracket 30 on pivot pins32, 32'". This ball-receiving carriage comprises a hemispherical shell 36 and a protruding delivery lip 37, both of which are pivoted on the pivot pins 32, 32. The lower part of the delivery lip 37 is secured to the hemispherical shell 36 by a thumb screw 38, the underside of the lip being slotted as at 39 so that it may be slid relative to the shell 36 and the amount of protrusion of the lip therefore varied. i

To bias the ball-receiving carriage 34 in a position normally counterclockwise as viewed in the drawings, a pair of tension springs 40, 42 are provided and these tension springs are anchored at one end to the arcuate frame as at 43, 44 respectively and the other end of each of the springs is anchored to the ball-receiving carriage as at 45, 46 respectively. The upper end of the carriage has secured thereto a striker member 48 which has a detent 49 therein that normally lies upward of the latch dog 24 and serves to permit the latch dog 24 to enter therein to prevent false triggering of the device until a firm pull is had on the release trigger 22. To limit the forward rotational motion of the carriage, a stop 50 is provided on the underside of the frame member 10, in the path of the striker member 48, as seen more particularly in FIG. 2. Guide rollers 52, 52' are provided on the forward end of the frame member 10 and, as seen more particularly in FIG. 2, provide a rolling engagement with the upper edge of the ball when the same is released. To insure that the ball is forced outwardly of the carriage, a spring member 56, which is shown as a flat leaf spring, is affixed to the carriage as at 57. Other spring devices may be used. To limit reverse rotational motion of the carriage when the device I is placed in the cocked position, a pin 58 protrudes upwardly from the anchor point 45 and engages a stop bracket 60 secured to the underside of the portion 30. (see FIG. 5)

In operation, the device will normally be in the position as shown in FIG. 2 at which point a bowling ball 70 may be rolled up the lip and into the ball-receiving carriage. Then the entire device is rocked or rotated clockwise to the position as shown in FIG. 1 and will be latched into place, the striker 48 moving the'dog 24 against the spring 26, with the tension springs 40, 42 urging the striker 48 against the dog 24. When the latch dog 24 is pulled, the carriage will rotate counterclockwise to the position as shown in FIG. 2 whereupon there will be a sufficient mouth opening between the lip 38 and the rollers 52 to permit the ball 70 to roll outwardly onto the alley. It will be understood, of course, that just before release, the user of the device has executed a forward motion by swinging his arm that is holding the device and this coupled with the springurgence of the ball 70 by virtue of the carriage rocking and the pusher spring 56, will impart sufficient motion to the ball so that the same will travel down the alley towards the group of bowling pins. It will of course be apparent that this device may be used with any size of bowling ball such as, for example, it may be used with duck pins, ten pins, and candle pins, merely by varying the size of the ball-receiving carriage. In addition, the actual shape of the fingers 38 may be varied to impart different actions to the ball as it is released from the device and adjusting the position of the fingers relative to the ball-receiving carriage will change the manner of delivery of the ball from the device.

I claim:

1. A ball hurling device comprising an arcuate frame member, a handle affixed to the frame, a ball receiving carriage, a resilient means in the carriage to bias a ball outward thereof, said carriage being pivotally mounted on the frame, means spring biasing the carriage to a forward pivoted position to release a ball held between the frame and carriage, and means to latch the carriage in a rearmost pivoted position whereby when the latch is released the carriage will be pivoted forwardly under the bias of the spring means and release a ball conopen ball receiving mouth. 

1. A ball hurling device comprising an arcuate frame member, a handle affixed to the frame, a ball receiving carriage, a resilient means in the carriage to bias a ball outward thereof, said carriage being pivotally mounted on the frame, means spring biasing the carriage to a forward pivoted position to release a ball held between the frame and carriage, and means to latch the carriage in a rearmost pivoted position whereby when the latch is released the carriage will be pivoted forwardly under the bias of the spring means and release a ball contained therein.
 2. A ball hurling device as in claim 1 including a delivery lip adjustably secured to the carriage at a point thereon remote from said frame member.
 3. A ball hurling device as in claim 1 wherein the latch means comprises a striker on the carriage and a rockable dog engaging the striker, said dog having a finger hole protruding into the handle.
 4. A ball hurling device as in claim 1 wherein said carriage is of roughly hemispherical form providing an open ball receiving mouth. 